Giving Birth to a Zombie!

Yesterday we went for the "BIG" ultasound. The one where "the it" becomes a "he or a she". Even after having three other babies it is still AMAZING to see this little person inside you and I never tire of hearing the little sound that indicates life. This was also the first time that we have had a 3-D picture taken. The first thing Chris said was "Look hon, you are giving birth to a zombie." I laughed but was a little offended because I thought he was actually quite cute. The funny thing is, I think he looks like Chris. But I guess even the mothers of Zombie's think their kids are cute. Oh! And yes, we will be having a BOY zombie! :)

Battle of the Sexes...

Austin really wanted another boy so he wasn't surrounded by so many girls. Allison didn't care...she WANTED a girl. She KNEW it was a girl. So we knew when we found out one of the kids was going to be very disappointed. We tried to tell them both that it would be great either way and all the benefits of having either another little sister or another brother but they were still both determined to have it their way. So here is what happened when they found out. We thought it was kind of funny...

Is there such a thing as reading too much?

The other day I caught myself lecturing my 1st grader for reading too much! I actually had to step back and say WHAT?! What am I saying? I am telling my child that he can't read! LOL! I never thought I would be having that conversation with any child, especially at 7. Let me explain! Austin reads almost a chapter book every 1-3 days for homework. (He reads extremely well!) We also read a harder chapter book (A Wrinkle in Time) and the scriptures every night with the whole family. He is also reading the scriptures on his own. YES! My son is reading the scriptures of his own accord! We also have to MAKE him go to bed at night because we will catch him reading late at night. He will read on the floor by his door so that he can read by the light of the bathroom. So the conversation was about some children's chapter books that I had on a book shelf waiting for my kids to be old enough to read. Austin wanted to start reading them but I told him that he is actually reading enough right now and we are going to save those for the summer when he doesn't have a school take-home book. So the discussion pursued in that manner until I realized that I was actually telling my son that he couldn't read MORE books! Wow...what a lucky mom I am! I have a child that I have to actually tell NOT to read!

To Tie or Not to Tie...

Yes! That is the question that I have been struggling with for about the last 6-8 months. To Tie or not to tie my tubes after this baby? For those of you who don't know...I have had three previous c-sections and doctors recommend only having four because the risk of complications after the fourth goes way up. This will be my fourth c-section. Before I got pregnant with this baby and at my first doctors appt. with the baby, both the doctors I saw said..."Oh, so we will be tying your tubes?" I was actually quite shocked that they would both be so blunt as to say it to me in that way. I am sure it is because their liability goes way up but, honestly, I could care less about them and their liability. So after giving them both dirty looks and telling them that I actually didn't know, both of their responses was "well, pray about it."

The funny thing is, Chris and I have always talked about having only 4 kids...and up until now that has been the plan. But now that I am pregnant with my fourth and this might be IT, I am really struggling with the concept of being done with my "child-bearing years." I am not even 30 for cryin' out loud. I feel too young to be done.

Sometimes I think that the reason I can't decide is purely prideful...I don't want someone else telling me that I can't have anymore kids. I want it to be MY CHOICE! I am mad that someone else gets a say. When I start looking at all the other factors of whether or not having more kids is reasonable, i.e. money, patience, time, space, ,more money, more patience, etc. it still brings me back to square one.

I have done all the things that I can think of to get an answer to this dilemma but one day I feel 75% sure and the next only 25%. I have prayed, gone to the temple, asked Chris. I tell Chris if he would just make the decision for me it might be much easier but he won't...he says he will support me in whatever I decide...what a cop-out!

Some of you might be asking, "Well why go to such extreme measures as to getting your tubes tied?" Well, I figure since they will already be in there I might as well just get it done if it is the right thing to do? I really can't imagine being on ANY kind of birth control (including having an IUD) for the next 20 years until I go through menopause...the thought makes me sick actually. If I am done, I would rather just get it done and call it good. Chris really doesn't want a vasectomy (he is scared of losing some part of his manhood) but says that he would do it if I wanted him too. Once again, the decision is left up to me and I just can't seem to get an answer. So, I guess me questions to whomever is reading this is "What would you do?" If you are done having kids, how did you know? If you aren't done having kids, I wouldn't mind your advice either. Right now I am taking all the advice I can get.

Random Pics of the kids...

Allison and Abigail

Austin loves to give the girls piggy back rides and the girls love to get them!

Cousin Kody giving Allison a ride at G&G C's house.

Daddy giving Abigail a ride.

Austin riding his 4-wheeler.

Austin as the Incredible Hulk and Allison as Cinderella. Doesn't she make the perfect Cinderella!

This was Abigail at Halloween...she was a Charger Girl. Right before we left to go trick-or-treating, she got into my Long-Lasting Lipstick...which really is LONG LASTING!

Keith and Abigail...awww, how sweet!

This is Allie's 4th Birthday party at the park...she is wearing an old performance costume that her Aunt Angie gave her...she HAD to wear it! :)

My kids make me smile...

Here are two conversations I had with Austin and Allison recently that made me smile...

Conversation with Austin:
AUSTIN: Mom, I am the most handsome kid in my class...
ME: You ARE? Well, how do you know that?
AUSTIN: Well...I have the most beautiful mom!
My Thoughts: Awww, we'll just forget that your grounded from the TV for a day. :) (AND NO I DID NOT TRAIN HIM TO SAY THIS)

Conversation with Allison:
Background...I took Allison with me for some lab work I needed thinking that it would help her overcome her EXTREME fear of needles and blood (she has passed out three times at the site of her own blood). I got my blood drawn and she said that I was really brave...
ME: Allie you can be brave too the next time you have to get a shot.
ALLIE: I know mom, but I think blood should stay in me...not come out of me.
ME: I guess your right Allie, blood should stay in you. (She does have a point there.)

And so I don't leave sweet Abigail off...something she says lately that makes me smile everytime she says it...instead of calling me "mama" which she usually does, for the last couple of weeks she has been calling me "honey." And she says it so cute!

Beautiful Zion!

For those of you not from Utah or who have never been to Zions National Park...it is probably one of the most beautiful National Parks in America...towering cliffs of red sandstone, waterfalls, wild animals running free almost everywhere you look. It is quite amazing. For the avid hiker or rock climber it is absolute heaven. While I wouldn't call myself "avid" at anything (except maybe blogging) - my family does really enjoy hiking...even our little Abigail, we found out.


As soon as it hit the mid-60's anywhere within an hour of where we live, we were sure to be there. A couple of weekends ago, it did just that at Zions and we headed down there for a full day of hiking fun and SUN! Here are the pics from the day...(which don't do the canyons justice AT ALL!)


We went on two hikes...the first one was up to Emerald Pools...(2 hour hike without kids, 3 hour hike with kids)

Do you see the deer in the back ground?...that was one of many we saw that day. Other animals that you may see are squirrels, lizards, snakes, mountain lions (unlikely), wild turkeys.

This is the lower waterfall...you climb up more to see the upper waterfall. Abigail actually hiked all the way to this point but started to go slower than the bigger kids had patience for so we finally put her in the back pack!

FINALLY THE TOP...when we reached the top this was the amazing site we found. It had dropped about 10 degrees right in the cove where the waterfall was and was actually acting as a snow machine. It was breath-taking. Like I said...pictures can't do it justice.

As you can see the kids actually LOVED the hike and can't wait to go on another one!

This was the second hike we went on...Weeping Rock (15 min with or without kids). You can't tell from the picture but we are actually standing under a slowly falling waterfall. They call it weeping rock because the rocks actually look like they are "weeping" water.

Baby Alex...

This weekend we went to Las Vegas to bring our nieces and nephew to see their parents at Sunrise Children's Hospital. They are currently with their fourth son, Alex, who is just barely 6 weeks old and has been on Life Support. He got RSV, then pneumonia and to top if all off he has some gastrointestinal problems. It has been a very scary and sad time for them and the whole family but we had a lot of great success this weekend. Alex was finally able to come off the ventilator and is doing really well with his respiratory problems. He is still in ICU but might be able to come out as soon as today. Hopefully he will be coming home by the end of the week. Once again we have felt the strength that comes through family and ward prayers and fasting. It is amazing all the people who come together when things like this happen...and heaven knows Chris's family has needed a lot of support in the last 6 months with both his nephews being in the ICU.

This was Alex three weeks ago...

This is Alex on the ventilator...

A SPECIAL THANK YOU: To my sister and brother-in-law for letting Chris' family use their time share while in Las Vegas. You guys are AWESOME!

Yes...#4 is on the way!

Today's post is short and sweet...YES, we are havin' a baby! Expected arrival is the beginning of August!

The House and the flood...

Here are some pics of our "not so new anymore" house. I am attaching "before we moved in" pics because I am embarrassed that after almost 6 months I still have no pictures on the wall. I can't make up my mind on what I want to do so I just do nothing! Pathetic, I know. Anyway, here are the pics...

The garage entryway...

Austin's room...future office room

Now...the flood...

The day before Halloween our basement flooded! The WHOLE THING! 4-6 inches of MUD and WATER in the whole basement! I look at these pictures and it still feels surreal. We had an outside water line break right by one of our window wells (which is not covered by homeownders insurance). The water went up under the window well and filled the window well. There was so much pressure on the window that it broke the window and continued to fill the basement. Luckily, we were only gone for an hour and a half or it would have just continued to fill up! We just happen to have bigger water lines than most people (which is good for most things just not when you are filling up a basement) so it filled up quicker than it would have if we had smaller water lines. The basement wasn’t 100% (only about 80%) finished however we did have our office down stairs. We had two computers, two desks, a printer, my treadmill, our fire-safe box (which we realized is only fire safe NOT water safe), our food storage, about 50% of the kids toys and some storage bins that were all downstairs. We had carpet in the hallway that we had to throw away. Our computers luckily were not completely ruined…after cleaning all the mud out of them we only had about $500 in damage to both of them. We threw away a whole bunch of cords, three toy boxes and about 2 dozen toys BUT my treadmill still works if I start it on a higher incline than the first level…lol. Even with all that we lost, Chris and I still feel really blessed because it could have been so much worse. Chris is actually thinking about moving the waterline so IF it broke again it wouldn’t go in the window well. But that will be a big job so he isn’t sure yet. Here are the pics…yes, it will be OK to cry along with me.

Thank goodness for family! All of Chris' brothers and sisters who lived in town at the time showed up to help clean up. We couldn't have done it without them! His sisters are all so tuff! They just get in there and do what needs to be done!

It took about 4 months to clean all these cables and everything else that was in the basement. Besides the carpet being gone it actually looks as good as new...almost! We are even working on finishing our first room down there...the cold (food) storage room!

You can see the line where the water was before we started pumping it out...

Where to start...

OK, this is kind of crazy to be back online and blogging again. YES! We FINALLY got the internet back. It is a long story but lets just say that our cable/internet company is so indebted to us I don't think I will see a bill for quite a few months...lol! (NOW I CAN LAUGH!):) Anyway, it was a definitly a weird experience not having the internet for so long. My husband and I have now realized that the internet has become the next bathroom....you can't live without it. AND "dial-up" is like having an out-house...there is almost no point! :) I know some of my family can't wait to see some pictures of the kids so that is what I am going to start with.

SLEDDING
I am definitly not a snow lover. BUT since I DO live in a city where it snows often I figured I better start thinking of some of the positive things that can come from snow. Here is one of them! We had a blast sledding with the kids. And the kids love it too! Both Austin and Allison were little dare devils too! People had built "sled jumps" and both kids went over them and got quite a bit of air. Neither Chris nor I would try them...lol!










More pics to come!